Plank structure and method of installation

ABSTRACT

A structure of at least one plank attached with a side to an edge of at least one joist by at least one mount. The mount has at least two first openings at either side of the edge of the at least one joist and at least one other opening above the edge. The structure is quick and easy to assemble. The assembling is strong and durable and do not involve any safety risk for the users. It also has a pleasant aesthetic appearance and can be made of hard wood.

The invention relates to a structure comprising at least one plank with an underside attached generally transversely to a topside of at least one joist, at least one mount placed between said underside of the at least one plank and said topside of the at least one joist, a base of the at least one mount with at least one first attachment hole, which is communicating with the underside of the at least one plank.

Structures of this kind are widely used for example for floors in terraces, hoardings and pallets.

The joist forms a bearing part of the structure. It has a relatively large height for being able to obtain the necessary moment of resistance against being bent. The thickness of the joist may be smaller than the width of the planks. The planks are normally attached to the joists with a little distance in between.

Such structures have traditionally been assembled by means of nails or screws, which however can work up above the surface of the plank and cause a safety risk. The screws or nails can moreover be seen and detract from the aesthetic appearance of the structure and sometimes they also can discolour the area of the structure surrounding the nails or screws.

In order to avoid these problems angular brackets have been used for assembling the structures. The assembling operation by means of such brackets is however difficult and time-consuming.

Mounts in form of plates with serrated edges are well known and can be used by being hammered into planks and joists to be assembled. The obtained connections are however relatively week and the operations difficult to carry out. These known mounts cannot be used when the structure is made of hard wood.

The above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art are according to the present invention remedied by,

in a first aspect of the invention providing a structure of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph which is quickly and easily to assemble,

in a second aspect of the invention providing a structure of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph which is assembled in a strong and durable way,

in a third aspect of the invention providing a structure of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph in which the assembling involves no safety risk for the users,

in a fourth aspect of the invention providing a structure of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph which has an aesthetic appearance,

in a fifth aspect of the invention providing a structure of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph which consists of hard wood,

in a sixth aspect of the invention providing a method for producing a structure consisting of planks attached to joists.

The novel and unique features of the invention whereby these features are achieved consist in the fact that at least one projection is formed on the base of the at least one mount with at least one second attachment hole communicating with the topside of the at least one joist, and that said at least one second attachment hole is offset from the middle line of the topside of the at least one joist.

The assembling of the structure according to the invention is easily and quickly to carry out by simultaneously obtaining a strong and durable structure.

The mounts of the structure moreover do not involve any risk for the users and since the mounts at least in the main are hidden, a pleasant aesthetic appearance is obtained.

As the at least one second attachment hole is offset from the middle line of the topside of the at least one joist is moreover advantageously obtained that identical mounts can be used opposite each other on each their side of a plank to be fastened to a joist by means of the mounts.

By an expedient embodiment according to the invention can at least one hook be formed on the base of the mount at an angle of preferable about 90 degrees whereby that advantageous is obtained that the mount is easy to place in the correct position on the plank by only letting the at least one hook abutting the edge of the plank.

The mounts can, according to the invention, be attached to the planks and the joist by means of screws through the first—and second attachment holes whereby hard wood can be used to the structure.

The first attachment holes can be placed in the mount above the topside of the at least one joist. Countersunk screw heads should in this case be used.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the two first attachment holes can be formed in the mount at either side of the topside of the at least one joist so that countersunk screw heads are not required.

The mount can, according to the invention, moreover be placed between the associated planks and joists so that a space between said wood parts is formed. Opposite surfaces of the wood parts therefore are exposed to air preventing the wood against rotting.

The mount can, according to the invention, furthermore have a mainly rectangular base, whereby the first attachment holes are formed in the base and at least one projection with the at least second attachment hole is protruding from the base.

Each plank can, according to the invention, be attached to each joist by means of two opposite mounts which are turned 180° in relation to each other. Neighbouring planks are attached to the same joist in the same way and with a little space in between.

According to the invention can the second attachment hole in the projection of the base of the mounts be placed in the space between two neighbouring planks whereby the mounts and thereby the planks easily and safely can be attached to the joist by means of fasteners like screws which are screwed into the joist through the second attachment holes.

The space between two neighbouring planks need in this first embodiment of the invention to correspond to or to be larger than the diameter of the fasteners to be used.

If a smaller space between two neighbouring planks is required the second attachment hole in the projection of the base of the mounts can according to the invention be placed outside the space between two neighbouring planks.

In this case the first of two neighbouring planks is attached to the joist by means of e.g. screws screwed into the joist through the second attachment hole in the projection of the base of the mounts.

The second plank then is moved sideways against the first plank so that the at least one second attachment hole of the projection of the base of the mount on the second plank is placed between the topside of the at least one joist and the underside of the first plank.

The second attachment hole in the projection of the base of the mount on the second plank can in this position not be used for attaching the mount and thereby the second plank to the joist by means of a fastener like e.g. a screw.

The second plank is however in this case secured in the structure by the projection of the base of the mount on the plank being hold between the topside of the joist and the underside of the first plank.

The advantage of this embodiment is that the space between two neighbouring planks can be relatively small. The space cans e.g. be the same as the thickness of the hooks.

The space can in another embodiment according to the invention of a mount without any hook be zero so that the side edges of two neighbouring planks are abutting each other.

The projections on opposite mounts on neighbouring planks can both be in the space between neighbouring planks when the projection, in the mounted position of the mount, is placed above an area of the edge of the joist extending outwards in the lateral direction from the middle of the edge of the joist.

The joists of the structure according to the invention will preferably be placed with a predetermined distance between their middle lines. Markings corresponding to the positions of said middle lines can according to the invention preliminary be marked out on the planks to be attached to the joists. The mounts are then attached to the planks with their base symmetrically arranged in relation to said markings.

The mounts can easily and quickly be placed in the correct positions upon the planks when the middle of the base of each mount is indicated in advance. Such indication may, according to the invention, be in form of e.g. angular incisions in the edges of the base of the mounts.

The object, features and advantages of the invention will be explained in more details in the following with reference to the drawing, in which

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a mount for assembling the structure according to the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a fragment seen from below of the structure assembled by means of the mount shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows the same seen from above,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a mount for assembling the structure according to the invention,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a mount for assembling the structure according to the invention,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of a mount for assembling the structure according to the invention, and

FIG. 7 shows a fragment seen from above of the structure according to the invention assembled by means of the mount shown in FIG. 6.

The structure 1 shown in fragment in FIGS. 2 and 3 consists of planks 2 attached to joists 3 by means of plate-formed mounts 4. The mounts are partly shown in full-drawn line, partly in dotted line. The mounts may be made of a plate of e.g. stainless steel.

The structure of the invention may be made of materials like for example wood, chipboard, hardboard and plasterboard. In the following is supposed that the material is wood.

The planks may e.g. have a width of between 100 and 150 mm and a thickness of between 15 and 30 mm. The joist may have a thickness of between 40 and 50 mm and a height of between 90 and 150 mm. The width of the planks thus is larger than the thickness of the joists.

The dimensions of the mount depend on the dimensions of the woods parts. The mount may e.g. be a plate of stainless steel having a thickness between 1 and 2 mm.

For fixing the mounts to the planks and joist, respectively may be used fasteners like e.g. screws or nails.

A first embodiment of the mount 4 according to the invention is shown on a larger scale in FIG. 1.

The mount has a mainly rectangular base 5 with a protruding projection 6. Opposite pairs of first attachment holes 7 are formed in the base and a second attachment hole 8 is formed in the projection.

The middle of the base is indicated in form of angular incisions 9 in opposite edges of the base. The projection is arranged at one side of the line between the incisions while there is no projection on the base of the mount on the opposite side.

Opposite parts of the mount are bent an angle of e.g. 90° to form two hooks 10.

The attachment holes 7 and 8 are oblongs except, in this case, the attachment hole 7′, which is round. Some or all attachment holes may within the scope of the invention be oblong or round.

The joists of the structure are placed with a predetermined distance between their middle lines, and markings corresponding to the positions of said middle lines are marked out on an underside of the planks to be attached to the joists.

Two opposite mounts are placed on each plank at each of the markings with their angular incisions coincident with the markings.

Therefore, the base of the mounts, in the assembled state of the structure, will automatically be symmetrically arranged in relation to the middle of the joists.

Each mount is placed on the respective plank with their hooks abutting an edge of the plank and the projection protruding from said edge.

A screw (not seen) is then screwed into the plank through the round first attachment hole 7′.

Three points then fix the position of the mount in relation to the plank. It then is easy to secure the position of the mount by means of screws (not seen) screwed into the plank through the oblong attachment holes 7.

The plank with the attached mounts is then turned and placed upon the associated joists in such way that the angular incisions of the mounts are coincident with the middle lines of the joists.

Each mount on the plank is then attached to the joist by means of a screw (not seen) screwed into the topside of the joist through the second attachment hole formed in the projections.

Since the projection of each mount is offset in one direction from the line between the two angular incisions of the mount and the mounts on neighbouring planks are turned 180° in relation to each other, both projections can find place side by side in the same space between the two planks.

Neighbouring planks are placed on the joists with a space in between corresponding e.g. to the extension of the protruding projection.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the mount according to the invention. This mount corresponds in the main to the mount shown in FIG. 1. Identical parts therefore are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The mount is in this case formed with only two first attachment holes 7, which as shown are oblong. One ore both of the attachment holes also may be round.

The mount of the second embodiment is especially simple and inexpensive.

FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of the mount according to the invention. This mount corresponds in the main also to the mount shown in FIG. 1. Identical parts therefore are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The mount has like the mount shown in FIG. 1 a mainly rectangular base 5 with a protruding projection 6. Opposite pairs of first attachment holes 7 are formed in the base and a second attachment hole 8 is formed in the projection.

The middle of the base is indicated in form of angular incisions 9 in opposite edges of the base. The projection is arranged at one side of the line between the incisions while there is no projection on the base of the mount on the opposite side of the line between the incisions.

Opposite parts of the mount are bent an angle of e.g. 90° to form a pair of hooks 10.

In this case there is on the opposite edge of the base formed a second protruding projection 6′ arranged at the opposite side of the line between the incisions 9 as the first protruding projection 6.

On the same edge as the second protruding projection 6′ is also formed a second pair of hooks 10′. The mount of the third embodiment is used for planks having the same width as the distance between the first and second pair of hooks.

For each assembling between a plank and a joist then is advantageously used only one mount.

FIG. 6 shows a fourth embodiment of the mount according to the invention.

The mount has a base 11 with a protruding projection 12. Three first attachment holes 13 are formed in the base. Said holes are offset in relation to each other for making the respective mount capable to resist crosswise acting moments.

The first attachment holes 13 are used to attach the mount on the underside of a plank by means of fasteners as e.g. screws through the holes.

A hook 14 is moreover formed on the base 11 and a second attachment hole 15 is formed in the projection 12. Each mount can within the scope of the invention have more than one hook, for example two hooks.

In this case three angular incisions 16 are cut into the rearmost edge 17 of the base opposite the projection 12 for making it easier to line up the mounts in correct positions on the planks.

FIG. 7 shows in fragment, seen from above, the structure according to the invention with a first plank 18, a second plank 19 and a third plank 20 attached to a joist 21 by means of the fourth embodiment of the mount shown in FIG. 6 and e.g. screws through the first—and second attachment holes 13 and 15, respectively. Instead of screws can be used e.g. nails. The joist and the mounts are partly shown in full-drawn line, partly in dotted line.

Two mounts are, in the same way as explained with reference to FIG. 2 and 3, placed on the underside of each plank with their angular incisions 16 used for lining up the mounts on the plank and their hooks abutting the edges of said plank. After that screws are screwed into the planks through the first attachment holes 13 of the mounts. The underside of the planks is during these operations turning up.

The planks 18,19,20 with the attached mounts then are turned and placed in succession upon the joist 21. The relatively positions of the mounts on the planks are in the following indicated with the terms upper mount and lower mount in relation to the orientation shown in FIG. 7.

The lower mount on the second plank 19 is attached to the joist by means of a screw (not seen) through the second attachment hole 15 on the projection 12 protruding from the edge of the plank.

The first plank 18 then is displaced against the second plank 19 into the direction of the arrows until the edge of the first plank 18 is abutting the hook 14 of the lower mount on the second plank 19 and the hook 14 of the upper mount on the first plank 18 is abutting the edge of the second plank 19.

The first plank 18 now is in its final position (not shown) on the joist 21 where the hooks 14 are defining the space between the first—and second planks 18, 19. It is noted that the space if desired also may be larger than the thickness of the hook.

The projection 12 of the upper mount on the first plank 18 has in said final position of the first plank been pushed into the narrow space between the topside of the joist 21 and the underside of the second plank 19.

The first plank 18 is in said final position (not shown) attached to the joist by means of the projection of the upper mount being securely hold between the joist 21 and the second plank 19 without any screw screwed into the joist through the second attachment hole 15 in the projection of the upper mount on the first plank 18 but with a screw (not shown) screwed into the joist through the second attachment hole 15 in the projection of the lower mount on the first plank.

The final position of a plank in relation to another plank is shown in FIG. 7 with the projection 12 of the upper mount on the second plank 19 securely hold between the joist 21 and the third plank 20 and a screw (not shown) screwed into the joist between the second attachment hole 15 in the projection 12 of the lower mount on the second plank 19.

The shape of each mount of the fourth embodiment may be mainly L-formed whereby the horizontal edge of the projection of a mount may abut the horizontal leg of the opposite mount in the final positions of the planks.

Alternatively a free space can be leaved between said horizontal edges and said horizontal legs. 

1-17. (canceled)
 18. A structure comprising: at least one plank with an underside attached generally transversely to a topside of at least one joist, at least one mount placed between the underside of the at least one plank and the topside of the at least one joist, and a base of the at least one mount having at least one first attachment hole which is communicating with the underside of the at least one plank, wherein at least one projection is formed on the base of the at least one mount and is offset from a middle line M across the base; the at least one projection has at least one second attachment hole communicating with the topside of the at least one joist; and the at least one second attachment hole is offset from the middle line of the topside of the at least one joist.
 19. The structure according to claim 18, wherein at least one hook is formed on the base of the at least one mount at an angle of about 90 degrees.
 20. The structure according to claim 18, wherein the at least one second attachment hole communicates with an area of the topside of the at least one joist placed in the space between opposite edges of two neighboring planks.
 21. The structure according to claim 18, wherein the at least one second attachment hole communicates with an area of the topside of the joist placed outside the space between opposite edges of two neighboring planks.
 22. The structure according to claim 19, wherein the space between two neighboring planks corresponds to or is larger than the thickness of the at least one hook on the at least one mount.
 23. The structure according to claim 18, wherein at least two first attachment holes are arranged in the base at either side of the middle line of the topside of the at least one joist, and the at least one second attachment hole is offset from the middle line.
 24. The structure according to claim 23, wherein the at least two first attachment holes are arranged in the base of the at least one mount at either side of the at least one joist.
 25. The structure according to claim 19, wherein the at least one hook is offset from the middle line of the topside of the at least one joist.
 26. The structure according to claim 18, wherein the base of the at least one mount has a substantially rectangular shape.
 27. The structure according to claim 18, wherein the at least one plank is attached to the at least one joist by at least two opposite mounts.
 28. The structure according to claim 18, wherein the base is formed with two hooks placed at the same side as the projection.
 29. The structure according to claim 18, wherein at least one angular incision is formed in the edge of the base opposite the projection for positioning the mount on the underside of the at least one plank.
 30. The structure according to claim 18, wherein the at least one mount is formed of a plate.
 31. A method for producing the structure according to claim 19, comprising the following steps: placing at least one mount on the at least one plank with the base of the mount abutting the underside of the at least one plank, attaching the at least one mount to the at least one plank by a fastener placed in the at least one first attachment hole in the base of the at least one mount, and attaching the at least one plank to the at least one joist by a fastener placed in the at least one second attachment hole in the projection of the base of the at least one mount.
 32. The method of claim 31, which further comprises placing at least one hook abutting an edge of the plank.
 33. The method of claim 31, which further comprises placing the at least one second attachment hole above an area of the topside of the at least one joist situated in the space between opposite edges of two neighboring planks.
 34. The method of claim 33, which further comprises placing the at least one second attachment hole above an area of the topside of the at least one joist situated outside the space between opposite edges of two neighboring planks.
 35. The method of claim 31, which further comprises: attaching the first of the at least two neighboring planks to the at least one joist by a fastener placed in the at least one second attachment hole in the projection of the base of a first mount on the first plank; and sideways moving the other plank against the first plank so that the at least one second attachment hole of the projection of the base of a second mount on the second plank is placed between the topside of the at least one joist and the underside of the first plank. 